


Voltron Short Stories

by Luya



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, basically my shitpost work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2018-12-11 02:52:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luya/pseuds/Luya
Summary: Short stories of Voltron: Legendary Defender! Dominantly Klance, but Shallura, Sheith and other ships might come into it at one point. If I get requests for a ship (will not do incest, unfortunately) I'll write a short of that. Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of a scene from Voltron season 3. I know it only came out today, but I've watched it all already and
> 
> and
> 
> it has me shOok
> 
> so I wanted to do this lmao enjoy
> 
> SPOILERS :)

Keith turned left and walked straight forward, the doors to his chambers automatically opening and then closing once he'd entered. He rubbed his eyes with a sigh, then took his jacket off and hung it up beside the door. He most certainly hadn't expected this all to happen, and it'd been happening way too fast. Firstly, Shiro went missing. Then the black lion chose him as its pilot. The blue lion rejected Lance, so his beloved Red let Lance pilot her instead. Now Allura is suddenly a pilot, and Shiro's back? Keith didn't know whether this meant everything would go back to the way it was, or whether he'd stay the black paladin forever. He hoped it wasn't that way. The black lion was too big and too slow for him. Red was small and agile - just like him. He was used to that thing. Lance was finding piloting Red far too easy - he'd nearly crashed a number of times, and although Allura was progressing pretty fast, she was still new. It would be better if Shiro became the black paladin again, and they all went back to their lions and their bayards. But before he could continue thinking, there was a knock on the door. He looked over. "Er, come in."

The doors opened and Lance was stood there - wait,  _Lance?_ That couldn't be right. Keith blinked in surprise as the taller boy walked in. He looked solemn - as if something was wrong. "Keith, I...I've been thinking, and...I need to talk to you." Keith would be lying if he said his heart didn't speed up at that, but he folded his arms and looked at Lance as the doors closed. "Well, it must be pretty serious if you're coming to me of all people." He tried to lighten up Lance with a smile, but the Cuban boy just raised an eyebrow. "But...you're the leader now, right?" 

"Oh. Well, yeah. I guess so."

Lance took in a deep breath, then spoke. "I've been doing some math. With Shiro back, that makes six paladins, but there are only five lions and if I'm right, that's one paladin too many." Keith processed it for a minute before shrugging. "Solid math. Your point?" Another deep breath. "Look, when Shiro takes over the black lion, you're going to want your red lion back. If I get a lion, that means I'd have to take Blue from Allura, but she's progressed a lot faster than any of us did. She might even be able to unlock powers we don't know of." Keith took another minute to think.

"That's true. But...what are you saying?"

"Well...maybe the best thing I can do for the team is step aside. I'll take Allura's place next to Coran, I suppose." Keith's eyes widened. "What are you talking about...?" Lance shuffled, but at least now he could seriously look Keith in the eye. "This isn't a participation game; this is war, and you want your best soldiers on the front lines-" "Stop worrying about who flies what, and just focus on your missions." Lance looked surprised when he got cut off. Keith looked determined and completely serious to convince Lance that he wasn't meant for this. "Things will work out."

Lance hesitated, but then turned and headed for the door. "Okay. Thanks."

Right before the door opened, Keith bolted forward and yanked Lance back a little. "Lance, wait." He glanced over his shoulder. "What?" Keith let go and sighed. "Are you...really okay?" This seemed to catch Lance off-guard. It caught Keith, too. He wasn't expecting to let those words slip out of his mouth. Was  _he_ feeling okay?

"Um, I...I, uh..."

"Lance...?"

"I feel like a seventh wheel. I always do. I think it's best if the seventh wheel isn't one of the fighters, more a strategic player from behind. You've all got your own things, and you're absolutely badass, Keith. I just...don't. I felt like the sharpshooter, but only Shiro would call me that, but now...sure, he's back, but he feels like he's changed and I just don't like it. I was finally getting used to things, you know? And Blue seems to have such a good connection with Allura. I feel betrayed, in a way. Red never talks to me, she only accepts me as a pilot. And you got accepted by Black. She must trust you, then, because she rejected all of us. Makes me feel even worse, y'know?"

Keith stood there for a solid moment, jaw hanging open, before he spoke. "Lance, are you stupid? You're possibly the most important person on the team! We really do use your good eye. Hunk has a gun too, but it's too big to be precise. Your accuracy really helps us out! And you're such an important person to all of us, how can you think otherwise?" Lance only shrugged. Keith sighed, then smiled. "Lance...how about we just leave the math and deep thinking to Pidge? You're amazing, okay?" 

There was a moment of silence before Lance threw his arms around Keith and whispered,  _"Thank you."_ Keith stood there, shocked, before he slowly wrapped his arms around Lance too.

"Y-you're welcome."


	2. Merfolk AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is nearly 4:30am what am I doing with my life
> 
> well no point in going to bed now so I'll write some massive fic woo

It wasn't like Lance  _wanted_ to get caught.

He was just, you know, mulling around, chilling with Hunk and Pidge, before  _it_ happened. Before we continue, I'll explain this to you: Not all merfolk are good.

There are merfolk like Lady Allura and her father's advisor Coran, who are good. They eat plants that grow peacefully on the seabed. Lance, Hunk and Pidge are also Ligxens. 

Then there are merfolk like the dreaded King Zarkon and witch Haggar. They will eat or kill anything they think is in their way. We call these Nigxons.

Lance swam around in circles, trying desperately to catch a tiny fish. Clearly, it was useless.

"Is it bad I find this amusing?"

"Not at all."

Lance finally stopped, turning to glare at his green and yellow comrades. "You could, oh, I don't know, HELP ME?!" Pidge only giggled. "Help you? But that isn't fun at all." Lance groaned, receiving a hearty laugh from Hunk.

Little did they all know, while Lance was complaining about getting teased by his two best friends, they were being closely watched and monitored.

"Shiro? Sorry, I went to get food." A black-haired Nigxon arrived behind another black-haired Nigxon. He waved his hand carelessly.

"Whatever, I don't care. Just look at these three. Think they can get me close to Lady Allura, Keith?" Keith rolled his eyes. Nigxons were pretty much cursed versions of Ligxens. If a Nigxon could develop a mutual love with a Ligxen, legend says they'd be purified and able to live free of burden. Of course, Nigxons are usually happy reproducing amongst themselves and find no time for love. Shiro had a mission to make Lady Allura the one to purify him. And Keith? Keith just wanted to be alone.

"Sure, if they don't swim away first. There's no way they'd willingly talk to us." Keith grumbled, folding his arms as he sat on the rock edging the reef beside Shiro.

"Hmm. Maybe capturing one would be best. They're pretty far out, don't you think? Who would be easiest."

"Blue one."

"What? I was thinking green."

Keith immediately gasped. "Do not underestimate the power of a short teenage merperson." Shiro laughed. "Okay, okay. Go distract them, I'll find a way to get the blue one." Shiro's obsidian black scales flashed as he swam away.

Lance noticed. "Hey, guys. Did you see that?" he asked, turning his head to stare over at where Keith was hiding. Pidge and Hunk looked over, too. "No. What did you see?" Hunk asked, swimming up beside his best friend. Lance hesitated before he answered. "Just thought I saw a flash, is all. It's probably just my sister trying to scare us again." He shrugged it off with a grin, blue fins on each side of his head twitching.

But then it happened again. Another flash, but this time the cause was revealed. A red-tinted Nigxon (all Nigxons are either black or black with a tinted colour) swam over. His dark eyes were wide and he looked pained, but Hunk ended up looking worse. He shrieked in fear and propelled himself backwards with his tail, hiding behind Pidge although he was certainly bigger than her. She looked a little shocked herself. Lance, on the other hand? His dark blue eyes were wide with fear, but he stood his ground.

"H-hello?" Lance managed as the Nigxon, Keith, came to a stop in front of him. Keith's neck gills flared then relaxed.  _Just do this for Shiro,_ he kept thinking, stopping himself from tearing these Ligxens to shreds on the spot. Keith managed a weak smile and responded. "Hey. I'm sorry, I know I might not be the best sight. But a Nigxon patrol is on their way, and I thought it would be unfair for young Ligxens like yourselves to be killed before even reaching eighteen." Shitty excuse, but it would work.

Pidge swam forward, peeling herself from Hunk's grasp. "Er, thanks for the warning and all, but why would you rat out your own kind? Wouldn't you want to come kill us?" Lance immediately shot her a glare, but Keith was already answering. "I do want to kill you. It's an instinct. But, like I said, everyone deserves a chance at life. Now leave, you don't have long." With a quick nod, Keith turned and swam back in the other direction, disappearing into the darkness beyond the reef. He sincerely hoped they'd leave and swim towards Shiro, else his buddy was going to have some trouble getting into the Ligxen Empire.

Lance stayed still after Hunk and Pidge began to swim back home. That was a little odd, not to mention the guy was pretty cute. He shook his head, turning around and hurrying after Pidge and Hunk. But he was too slow. Suddenly, Lance was tackled away from his friends. One moment he could see the green tail of Pidge and yellow tail of Hunk, and the next he was clawing viciously at his attacker, rolling down the side of the hill. Was it a Nigxon? He could feel claws scratching at his bare back and chest, and blood seeping from those cuts. When they hit a rock, the two separated and floated for a bit. Finally, Lance got a look at who attacked him.

It was another Nigxon, but not the same one as before. This one was pure black, dark gray eyes glaring at him. But he didn't move to attack again, just shook his head and composed himself.

"I'm sorry. I only meant to secure you, not harm you." He gestured to the small bleeding scratches now covering Lance's torso. Lance's breathing was still uneven and heart still racing. He couldn't respond. The Nigxon clearly felt bad.

"Um, I'm Takashi. Close friends call me Shiro, so I don't really mind. I was hoping...perhaps you could get me close to Lady Allura?" The hope in his voice was undeniable, and the sudden sparkle in his eyes. Lance's heart was only just calming down, but the mention of Lady Allura sent it into overdrive again. He didn't like the royal Lady or anything, but a Nigxon wanted his help? To get to the Lady? He could hardly get past his sister's boyfriend to see her room without getting his tail kicked. How was he supposed to pass the royal guards?

"I, uhm...uh...can't help...you..." Lance's words were slow to leave his mouth, and he instantly regretted it. They were down low in the darkness. Takashi had the upper hand here - Lance could barely see and was already weak. Takashi could kill him at any moment, and he had no say in it. Takashi's hopeful expression faded. "Oh. Why is that?"

Lance fumbled to stutter out an appropriate answer. "I-I have no direct association with her and would be putting her in jeopardy bringing a Nigxon like you to her front door." Again, regret washed over him. That was rude. Takashi began to look angry, but that was when Lance was rushed from behind. He heard Takashi shout "Keith, no!" before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so here you go I might start a fic just based entirely on this but only if it's liked lol


	3. Happy Birthday...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit late for keith's birthday but here have some angst :)

Keith opened his eyes, glancing at the little Galra-tech phone thing Kolivan had given him to keep in touch with the Voltron team. It was blaring a beeping sound loudly, the purple screen lit up. Keith sat up, rubbing his head. Sleeping in an escape pod wasn't fun. He picked his phone up and swiped, turning off the beeping before his Blade allies could wake up too. He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out what it said on the screen...

**OCTOBER 23**

**VISIT VOLTRON TEAM!!!**

It was a reminder. Keith suddenly remembered. He was going to see everyone again today. Why? Well, because it was his birthday.

"I didn't know you were an early bird, Kogane." Keith started, glancing up to see Kolivan also awake.

"Oh, I'm not usually up this early. It's just, the reminder on my phone..."

"Ah, it's your birthday. I'll set a course for the Castle of Lions. Don't forget, you only have today off. We need you again tomorrow for our assault team." Keith nodded firmly, watching Kolivan head to the pod's controls. Keith set his phone down and sighed, leaning back against the wall. How old was he turning?

Oh, yeah. Nineteen.

As far as he was aware, Lance was still seventeen. Keith smiled. That gave him a sense of satisfaction, knowing he was about a year and a half older than his rival. Another thought, an inevitable one, crossed his mind though.

What if they forgot?

For as long as he could remember, Keith had been alone on his birthday. Sure, he'd maybe have a little cupcake with a candle to celebrate with Shiro when they were at the Garrison, but that was only about two or three birthdays, and then the Kerberos mission happened. Surely Voltron would remember? It wasn't like Keith was expecting a big surprise party, but he'd arranged to come back for the day. So...surely...

He was snapped out of his trance by his fellow Blade, Hua. "Kogane. Hey, Kogane. You've been daydreaming for almost an hour. We're boarding the castle."

An hour? Had it been that long already? Keith heaved himself up and watched as the door opened and...

There stood Allura and Coran, smiling brightly. Keith couldn't help but give a soft smile back.

"Keith! It's been so long. Happy birthday!" When Keith stepped onto the ship, into the black lion's hangar, he said thanks and goodbye to the Blades before turning around and getting hugged by Allura. He chuckled.

"Thanks, Allura. I was really scared you would've forgotten." Allura pulled away, still smiling. Coran pretended to be offended.

"No way we could have forgotten you, Keith. You led Voltron excellently while Shiro was gone and we would have crumbled without you!" Keith blushed, glancing around, desperate to change the subject. "Where's everyone else?"

Allura's smiled only broadened. "In the dining hall! Follow me." She turned and walked off, Coran hurrying along beside her. Keith quirked an eyebrow and followed too.

When they arrived, the door slid open. Pidge and Lance were having a food goo fight with Hunk desperately trying to stop them. Shiro looked like a supervisor. Everyone stopped dead when they heard the door slide open, turning to stare. 

Lance spoke up first. "If it isn't mullet-head!" Everyone burst into action. Hunk gave Keith a massive bear hug, Pidge gave Keith nineteen (very painful) birthday beats, Lance insulted his mullet and Shiro gave Keith a meaningful hug.

"It's good to see you again. Happy birthday." Shiro smiled and Keith grinned back. "Thanks, Shiro. I was...really scared you'd all forget."

Lance piped up again. "Oh, I did forget. But you should have heard Shiro running around at God knows what time in the morning - waking us all up and acting like some six year old on Christmas!" Everyone laughed and Shiro chuckled with a modest blush. Keith grimaced, sitting down at the table with everyone. Honestly, although Lance was his rival and he was supposed to hate him, they were still sort of friends and it hurt to hear him say he'd forgotten.

To start off with, Shiro decided to tell nineteen embarrassing stories about Keith. "One time, back in the Galaxy Garrison, a girl called Jenny asked Keith out. He didn't get what she meant, so he asked her where she wanted to go. She corrected herself and said; 'no, I mean, do you wanna date?' and Keith said, 'sorry, I don't eat dates.' That poor girl!" Shiro laughed, and a few snickers emitted from the others. Lance leaned 'coolly' back in his chair. "I'm surprised anyone even bothered to talk to mullet over here. No bueno for the ladies."

Keith shot Lance a daring glare. It was bad enough Shiro was saying this stuff, but Lance had to go ahead and be rude. Pidge piped up before things could get bad, though. "Hey, let's play dares!"

This backfired. Lance leapt up. "I'm going first! Someone dare me!"

"All right...I dare you to stuff food goo up your nose." A series of 'eww's erupted from the others, while Pidge snickered. Lance, of course, dove his hand into his food goo and stuffed it up his nose.

"Another dare!"

That's pretty much how the day went. A few hours before evening, Keith excused himself and began wandering the corridors uselessly. He couldn't help but think...was Lance honestly that much more attentions grabbing than Keith?

The whole day Lance had been doing everyone's dares, singing and dancing to keep their attention, and making jokes, some that eventually got offensive to Keith. And everyone else just laughed and played along. Keith would usually be upset by this anyway, then eventually get over it, thinking it was petty to linger on it. But on his birthday? Really? All Lance ever seemed to do was steal the spotlight. Keith never used to care, but now...?

He stopped by a window and stared out into space, remembering the time Lance doubted his value and position on the team and confided in Keith about it. How wrong he'd been.

Because today had proven that Lance was indeed valued and necessary to the team. Today had proven that it wasn't Lance that was replaceable...

It was Keith.

Tears began to roll down his cheeks. He gritted his teeth together, balled up his right hand into a fist and slammed it against the window, straining against the sobs that tried to escape.

"Fuck! Why...why can't I just...be like him?" The words left his mouth before he even considered it.

Yes, that's right. Keith was just the loner, after all. He wasn't needed. The others celebrating his birthday was just a polite gesture.

He was better off with the cold personalities of the Galra in the Blade of Marmora. There, they showed no compassion. He didn't need people to care for him.

It only ended in lies, after all.


	4. Godfather

Shiro looked so happy when Lance said he’d take care of his kids.

 

Shiro and Allura had expressed their love for each other the day the real Shiro had replaced Kuron. It was an emotional scene and Lance had obviously cried into Hunk’s shoulder. The fight against the Galra ceased a little with Lotor on their side, yet Voltron continued to do little things around the universe to help individual little planets out. During this calm time, Coran found an uninhabited planet that produced oxygen, noting it a perfectly habitable place for the Castle of Lions to set down. Allura consulted the team, and all agreed. It looked like Earth, just with a...drastically different colour and content scheme.

The plants were totally different. The animals were super big or super small cute or scary aliens. The water was red, the grass purple and the sky either light or dark orange. But none of the paladins could say it wasn’t a beautiful place to live. It barely took them a month to build a shack big enough for them all, which over time developed into individual houses for each paladin. It was weird living in a village and cooking dinner collectively over a fire when they had a super advanced castle ship landed barely twenty metres away, but it was fun. Of course, they do board the ship and leave home behind to go on missions with their lions, and they occasionally sleep in their castle bedrooms if they get sick or something, but still. It was weird.

It’d been almost a year of living like this, now. Lance had just turned nineteen and they were celebrating his birthday with a special meal from Hunk, who was now accompanied by a very dog-like creature, who had antennae and little see-through wings. While laughing and joking over dinner, Lance noticed Shiro was especially light and happy today. Usually the head of Voltron was a tiny bit more distant, mostly because everyone thought he definitely had some severe PTSD, partially because Keith wasn’t there and without Keith Shiro’s life never felt complete. Or maybe he was just stressed - Shiro never opened up to anyone but Allura, so it was hard to tell. But tonight, the man looked like he had not a care in the world.

”Shiro, you look a lot better than usual! Something good happen?” Lance commented, a big smile on his face. Shiro returned the grin with a brilliantly white one of his own. “It’s funny you ask, actually. We were going to tell you tonight.” At this, Lance’s eyebrow raised, and Pidge and Hunk fell silent. “Tell us? Tell us what?” The anticipation began to nag at Lance as Shiro and Allura shared a look. Hunk clearly guessed, because he started shrieking right before the two came out and said it-

“We’re actually going to have a baby.”

The four of them exploded into shrieks and shouts of excitement mixed with congratulations. Coran was hugging Allura fiercely while simultaneously giving Shiro a funny look, like he was happy for him but also angry at him. Shiro deliberately, yet as subtly as possible, focused on Lance, Pidge and Hunk.

”Dude, that’s amazing!”

”Half-Altean, half-human! This is gonna be good.”

”Stop thinking sciencey things and be happy for them!”

The night continued like so, everyone in an even happier mood. Lance probably even made a joke about what a great birthday present the announcement was.

But all the joking didn’t last very long.

 

Fourteen months later (they discovered Alteans have a longer gestation period than humans do, to Shiro’s relief), only two weeks before the baby’s due date, Allura fell sick. Being on a new planet, the paladins were constantly at risk of new diseases, and Allura caught one. It was very bad. She was in the castle, too pregnant to enter a pod, and too sick to leave bed. Black lumps formed on her skin and oozed neon yellow pus, while she coughed up some white substance that might have been phlegm but probably wasn’t. Shiro was by her side the entire time, only leaving to fetch Coran when she went into labour.

For a whole twenty six hours the blue, green and yellow paladins were convening in Hunk’s house nervously. With Allura in this state, they’d be lucky if even she survived, let alone the baby. Lance was particularly devastated. He wasn’t sure why it meant so much to him as he had no relation to this babies except as maybe a futuristic alien space uncle (a bit like Coran sometimes seemed), yet it meant so much to him. Maybe because the announcement was made on his nineteenth birthday. He was twenty now.

Finally, after no sleep and Pidge’s Altea recreation of coffee being finished in about three hours, the doorknob twisted and the door opened. There stood Shiro, hands bloody and face tear-streaked. “The baby made it. In fact, there are two.” Lance broke in relief at that moment, tears streaming down his face. He didn’t reach out to hug Shiro or anything though - they weren’t close enough for that. But he did ask, “What about Allura?”

To which the answer was a blood-curdling cry of genuine heartache as Shiro fell to his knees.

 

Barely four years later and a fight’s kicked up again. Coran is usually left at home with the twins while Voltron flies off to do its thing, yet never being able to combine due to the lack of a blue paladin. They find a suitable candidate and shove them into the cockpit, but Blue rejects them. She reacted to Lance once, but Keith couldn’t be convinced to come back. He said he was sorry about Allura, but the job of red paladin was one he’d left far behind in his past, and Coran had no luck unlocking Blue. So the paladins made do. One day, Lance and Shiro were playing catch with the little four year olds, along with some races which they let the girls win. Eventually, they started to argue. Lance approached Shiro, out of breathe.

”I don’t know about you but I am not racing Lura again,” he panted, bending over forwards to catch his breath. Alteans and their damn weird skills. But Lance got no reply from Shiro until he looked up into the older man’s face, catching his breath as he did so. Shiro was staring at him, so intensely it was starting to make Lance feel uncomfortable. “Shiro? Are you okay?”

”Promise me you’ll take care of them if anything happens to me.”

”Wh- wait, hold on-“

”Promise me!”

It wasn’t the first time Lance had been shouted at by Shiro, but the first time was Kuron. Lance blinked softly. Even the girls had stopped wrestling to stare worriedly at their father, who brushed himself down to calm down. “Promise me,” he repeated quietly. Lance could do nothing but nod. When you compel someone as strongly as that, it’s pretty hard to say no. 

“Okay. I promise.”

 

”Daddy’s not come home yet. It’s been a week.” Lura complains. The twins are ten now, and have become a pain in Lance’s ass. Shiro started disappearing for solo missions more and more often, and since Lance seemed to be a natural with kids the girls were drawn to him. He was basically like their dad now.

But it was true. Shiro hadn’t returned for ages. No sign, no signal. Lance hoped he was okay, but something in his gut told him Shiro wasn’t safe. “Daddy’s gonna be okay, Lura. I promise.” Lili sniggered about how Lura was ‘daddy’s little girl’ and the two started a sloppy cereal fight over Lance’s table as he stared out the window, remembering the promise he made six years ago. Lance got a sudden urge to fulfill it; to keep that promise.

_Don’t worry, Shiro. There won’t be a hair missing from either of their bodies when you get back._


End file.
